Testimony: I.Z.H.A.
| Name: | I.Z.H.A. |
| Age: | 16 |
| Date of incident: | 21 February 2016 |
| Location: | Husan, West Bank |
| Accusation: | None |
On 21 February 2016, a 16-year-old minor from Husan was detained by Israeli soldiers at 8:00 p.m. on his way to his grandparents house. He reports being denied his basic legal rights under Israeli military law. He reports being released without charge 5 days after his arrest.
I was on my way to my grandparents’ house at around 8:00 p.m. when suddenly a group of Israeli soldiers surrounded me and ordered me to stop. They immediately handcuffed my hands to the front with metal cuffs. They were not tight. They did not give me any reasons for detaining me.
A few minutes later an Israeli police car arrived and I was put in the back seat. The car traveled for about 30 minutes to the police station inside Kiryat Arba settlement where I was immediately taken for interrogation.
The interrogator told me he was an intelligence officer. He started to question me without informing me of any rights. He had a tape recorder and he asked me some general questions. He wanted to know what I was doing in the area near the settlement at that time of the day. He wanted to know whether I had an intention to stab someone and whether I belonged to a political party or had other people with me. I told him I was on my way to my grandparents’ house and I had no other intentions.
The interrogation lasted for about 30 minutes. I was then taken outside where I sat on a bench. I was still handcuffed. I was then taken back for a second interrogation. The interrogator repeated the same questions. This time he accused me of being in the area with the intention of committing a stabbing. I denied the accusation and told him I didn’t understand this because I didn’t have a knife or a sharp instrument with me at the time.
He then printed a document written in Hebrew and Arabic and asked me to sign it and I did. He then took my photograph and my fingerprints and I was put in the back of a troop carrier where I sat on a seat. The carrier drove for about 30 minutes to the settlement of Etzion where I was strip searched and taken into a cell where they removed the handcuffs. They brought me some food and I slept by myself on a bed without a mattress.
At around 9:00 a.m. the following morning I was handcuffed and shackled and taken to the back of a carrier which took me to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem. At Ofer I was strip searched and taken to Section 13.
On 26 February 2016, I was taken to the waiting room at the military court. Then I was taken back to the cell without entering the court. At around 5:00 p.m. I was told I was going to be released. I went home by myself and I arrived home at around 9:00 p.m.
